Fun Trips Part 2

So when we landed back in Unalakleet after the trip to Little Diomede, I wanted to shoot some video of the BSSD plane getting put back in the hanger.  Doug (BSSD’s pilot) had to fill it up with fuel first, so I was waiting around for that to get finished up.  I was talking with Doug and his wife Margaret.  They mentioned that they were planning on going to Nome the next day for a little trip.  Doug has his own plane in Unalakleet a 185 on skis.  Margaret told Doug that they should swing by Serpentine Hot Springs which is about 50 miles east of Shishmaref.  I mentioned how beautiful it was up there, and Doug asked if I’d ever been.  I told him that I had not, and that he had flown me through there on one of our flights last year, and how I really liked the tall rock spires that were all through that area.  He then asked me if I had any plans for the next day, and if I wanted to join them.  I told them I was free, and that I’d love to go.

So 8:30 the next morning (yesterday being Saturday) I showed up at Doug’s door, and we visited for a little bit while they finished up breakfast, and down to the plane we went.  We got it all fueled up, and piled in.  There was Doug, Margaret, their dog Buddy, and Me.  Buddy and I got to snuggle in the back seat.  As nice as Buddy was, it would have been great to have Erin along with.  I hope we are able to get out there together for a weekend this spring

.

So Buddy is a ginormous Malamute Husky, but unlike the other huskies I know, Buddy is like a big teddy bear.  Really a tame, and low key dog.  Sits quietly, and handled flying like a pro.  One of the down sides to flying with buddy is the fact that he is a husky, and has a lot of fur.  When he gets warm, he sheds.  Here is kinda what it was like.

We headed toward Serpentine flying low over the vastness of the open tundra.  We had a bit of a headwind, so the flight took longer than it should have.  I didn’t mind at all, I was shooting tons of photos out the window.  I’ll post them over in the gallery.

We didn’t see any animals until we got to the hot-springs.  We had to do a flyby on the little gravel strip by the springs to clear the caribou off the strip.

There had to have been about 50 or so all over the place.  It was really cool watching them run across the frozen tundra.  Once the strip was clear Doug brought it in for a landing.  He didn’t even have to use the skis.  There wasn’t enough snow to warrant the use.

Serpentine Hotsprings is a really cool place.  Its down in this bowl surrounded by these rock spiers on all sides.  I think it would be a great place to go climbing in the summer and fall.

So there was a grant that paid for these buildings to be built back in the 70’s.  There are two one being a place to sleep.  Its quite big with three rooms.  One in the middle, and from the middle room you can go to either side into separate sleeping/cooking/eating areas.  Its set up to accommodate two separate parties at one time.  So each side has bunks, a fuel oil stove, a Colman cook stove, and a table to eat at.  From there is a boardwalk that connects you to the other building which is the pool for the hot springs.

The little building you can see off at the end has a bit of an arctic entry way, then the main room in which the pool is.  It really doesn’t matter much.  There is so much frost inside from the warm steam of the springs that you can’t get the doors shut very well anyway. 

So I got changed in the main building, and then headed out across the board walk to the room with the pool.  It was really nice out that day. Not much wind, and the sun was shining down.

The pool isn’t that big, but large enough for a few adults to sit comfortably. You control the temperature by a couple of pipes.  One is fed directly by the hot springs, and the water is pretty hot.  There is also another pipe that is fed by a stream, which provides cold water.

.

I was really impressed by the amount of frost inside that building.  One thing that really caught my eye was the thick layer of ice on top of the rafters.  I was really cool looking.

In fact everything near the springs were covered in frost.  Here is a wheel barrow that was taken over by frost.

After soaking for a few hours, we hopped back into the plane and headed toward Nome.  We stopped along the way at a little gold mine.  Doug knows the people that run the outfit.  So we landed, and went to see if anyone was around.  Apparently the miners have a couple of dogs that Buddy doesn’t get along with, so we left him in the plane.  I shot this picture of him really wanting to join us.  It looks like he is also trying to fly the plane.  Kinda funny.

After a quick look up at the main house, we realized that no one was home, and that they were probably over at a different area of their mine.  So we hopped back in the plane and headed to Nome.  Along the way we flew over Pilgrim Hot-springs which is really close to Teller and Brevig.  They just have their pool outside, so its a bit different setup

.

Very near there is a big range of mountains.  We flew along side them until we found the right valley to fly through.  The mountains were just beautiful.

We made it on through.  Stopped in Nome for a little bit, and then headed back to Unalakleet.  We had a head wind going back believe it or not, which made the trip home a bit slow as well.  We ended up landing back in Unalakleet at 11:00 PM.  It was a great day.  The only thing that would have made it perfect was to have Erin along.  I really hope we get the chance to go spend the night up there in the next few weeks.

Fun Trips

The last couple days have been really amazing.  Friday morning I hopped on 406SD (which is the BSSD airplane) with Dr. Davis (BSSD Superintendent), Kim Johnson (BSSD Ed Support Coordinator), and Rebecca Concilus (BSSD Special Ed Coordinator).  We were headed for Little Doimede.  You may have remembered me going out there last fall via helicopter.  Well the Bering Sea got cold enough in the last few weeks to provide a nice layer of sea ice to land on.  Diomede locals were telling us that the ice was about 4 feet thick, which is pretty amazing since it is salt water.

The weather was perfect.  Very sunny out which makes the snowy surounding just that much more stunning.  Here is a different perspective than I was able to show you last time, since I was able to stand out on the the ocean in front of the village.

The kids went out skiing after school on the ice.  They really love to be out and about.  There was a little wind which made it really quite cold if you weren’t covered up.  Nathan Pitt (one of Little Diomede’s teachers) helped me work with a couple of students to shoot a few panoramas on and around the island.  I’ll hopefully post those in a week or so.

Nathan and I hopped on a snowmachine and headed out over the International Dateline.  We wanted to go check out tomorrow or as most of you know it Russia.  Here is a shot of me standing in Russia.

We didn’t want to stay for too long since the Russians don’t really like you visiting.  We shot a couple of photos, and I upheld forgien relations, and we headed back to the USA.

On the way back we stopped by 406SD.  I snapped a cool photo of it with the village of Little Diomede in the background.

Here is one of my classic “self portraits” that I like to take with a student and Little Diomede in the background.  It really amazes me how remote this place is, and the lives the people live out there.

We were only out for a few hours, and had to head back.  It was nice to catch up with friends out there, and see this unique place once again.  I wish Erin could have been along. I think she would have really been impressed with how beautiful this place is.  And its always fun to travel with her.